Best Days : Matt White : Review : Rolling Stone

On his debut, this former opera student and subway busker updates classic Billy-and-Elton-style Top Forty with Tears for Fears melodrama, Lovin' Spoonful sunshine, even a touch of Freddie Mercury-style falsetto theatrics. Given his professions of love at first sight and breezy come-ons like "I will take a picture so that I can dream of you," White will inevitably get lumped in with heartbreakin', moneymakin' contemporaries such as John Mayer and Adam Levine, but (for better and for worse) he's harder to peg, able to be both heavier and lighter. "Best Days" was held up for over a year, its sweet melodies and easy rhythms getting burnished with touches that it seems only dogs can hear. Sometimes White comes on a bit strong, too eager to please and impress. But when he relaxes into a groove, like the gently rolling "Love," or convincingly amps things up on "Anybody Else," he shows that he's capable of standing out from the increasingly crowded pack of twenty-first-century Funky White Boys.